Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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1086. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current offerings available at the TUS Ennis campus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40660/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The TUS campus on Bindon Street, Ennis, County Clare offers two CAO courses - BA Social Care Work (Level 7) and BA (Hons) Social Care Work (Level 8) - as well as a range of flexible learning and skills based short programmes.

In response to the recent Tertiary Education awards initiative that I launched last July, TUS also offers a degree in Business in Ennis in collaboration with Limerick-Clare ETB outside the traditional CAO.

As a regionally based university TUS is committed to supporting higher education provision for and the economic development of the entire county. In this context TUS provides a degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering in Shannon in collaboration with a major local employer, Atlantic Aviation Group. TUS also collaborates with another organisation in Shannon, Atlantic Air Venture, delivering a range of aircraft leasing and management programmes, that it is understood attract high demand from Shannon based aircraft leasing and management companies.

As County Clare continues to develop as an industry hub, TUS keeps its higher education and programme provision under review to meet the needs of industry and economic growth.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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1087. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has enquired as to what the cause of the delay in the allocation of funding (details supplied); and what is currently being done with these funds. [40739/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The matter referred to by the deputy relates to EIB Loan Approval for capital works at UCC. Section 38 of the Universities Act, 1997 sets out the basis for borrowing and loan guarantees by universities. It provides for such borrowing in accordance with a framework agreed between the universities and the Higher Education Authority. The current borrowing framework provides for universities to engage in borrowing within agreed parameters including that such borrowings are in accordance with the objects and functions of the university and the university is able to meet the annual servicing costs without recourse to additional Exchequer funding.

As an autonomous body, it is a matter for UCC to prioritise its capital projects accordingly. There have been two rounds of capital funding made available to Higher Level Institutions under the Higher Education Strategic Investment Fund (HESIF) in the years since the loan approval was received by UCC. Each institute was permitted to submit one project per funding round and the Dental School would have been eligible for funding under HESIF. UCC has not chosen to submit the Dental School for consideration. However, UCC did lodge two successful applications in that time, one for the Business School and one for an upgrade to the Kane Building, projects which have received €50 million in direct exchequer funding from this Department .